Catching Up With: Former Lehigh University quarterback Marty Horn

Photo courtesy of Marty Horn(L-R) Marty Horn, son Marty Horn Jr. and wife Diane walk out on to the field at a Madison (NJ) High School football game.

Since going out a winner by a 24-19 score against rival Lafayette in November of 1985, former Lehigh University football quarterback Marty Horn has stayed busy as a husband and father, broadcaster, high school assistant coach and entrepreneur.

"I do not think you should let any day go by when you don't do something to improve yourself," Horn said, after helping the Madison Dodgers humble the Hackettstown Tigers 48-7 in a high school varsity football on Oct. 5. The victory was Madison's 29th consecutive win, a streak which started during the 2009 season.

A Group 2 school, Madison is ranked in the New Jersey Top-20 by The Star-Ledger.

"It requires patience and a continuing desire to grow in your profession," Horn said of his coaching experience. He is in his sixth year as a backfield coach with the Dodgers.

"Our coaching staff (led by head coach Chris Kubik) always looks for new ways to improve our teaching techniques and refine our philosophies of offense. A key ... is to understand your players and create a system that develops them and allows them to excel," he said.

Name: Marty Horn

Local connection: Lehigh University, class of 1986

Notables:

Set LU football program records as quarterback for completions, passing yardage and touchdown passes that stood for 15 years.

Inducted in to the Lehigh University Athletic Hall of Fame in 2000.

Completed five passes for 68 yards for Philadelphia Eagles in 1987 regular season game as a replacement quarterback during the NFL Players' strike.

Backfield coach for two-time NJSIAA North Section 2 Group 2 champion Madison High School football team.

Resides: Madison, N.J.

Horn gave up a 20-year career broadcasting Lehigh football to join the coaching staff at Madison, where he resides. "One of my sons (Martin Jr.) is now playing football at Susquehanna University and two more children (Charlotte and Shane) are playing sports at Madison High School," he said. "I wanted to spend more time with them."

A journalism major at Lehigh, Horn got started by broadcasting basketball and wrestling matches on the campus radio station. "I would recommend students interested in broadcasting do anything they could to get on air in front of a live microphone," he said. "Take advantage of any working opportunities you have."

"I loved broadcasting Lehigh football games. I did both radio and television work," he said. "My most memorable broadcasting experience was doing an on-field interview with head coach Kevin Higgins and almost getting trampled by a crowd of students trying to tear down the goal posts."

Horn set Lehigh quarterbacking records for completions, passing yardage and touchdown passes that would stand for 15 years. He played his home games at old Taylor Stadium, when Lehigh was still nicknamed the Engineers, before the 1989 opening of Goodman Stadium.

"Playing at Taylor Stadium was unique," he recalled. "The crowds were right on top of the field and the atmosphere was always electric. Engineering wins in Taylor Stadium over Lafayette twice and Delaware were some of my greatest memories. That Delaware team, famed for the Wing-T, was quarterbacked by Rich Gannon so it was a particularly sweet win. I know the Wing-T well, ran it under John Whitehead at Lehigh."

He fondly remembered the team's many ardent fans. "There is something special about Bethlehem and the support of so many people like the Southside Boosters," Horn said.

After graduation, Horn went to the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles training camps and completed five passes for 68 yards for the Eagles in a 1987 regular season game at Dallas as a replacement during the NFL players' strike.

When he saw that his playing career had nowhere further to go, he took over a pair of restaurants which he co-owns with his brothers in West Orange, N.J. He and his brothers are the third generation of his family to operate Pals Cabin and Mayfair Farms, which his grandfather opened in 1932 and 1943 respectively.

While he was doing on-air commentary during football season, he also started his own internet company in the late 90s and opened a real estate company.

Happily married to his wife of 20 years, Diane, who he met in a class at Lehigh, he still gets together with ATO Fraternity friends. "I also enjoy getting together with my friend and fellow football alum Rennie Benn for a round of golf," he said.